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ARCHIVE - 7/3/07:
June - Anniversary of a Turning Point
Can you believe it's been two years since Green Day's now legendary shows at Milton Keynes? --Two long years since Green Day blew the minds of tens of thousands of fans and solidified their positions as some of the greatest rock stars alive today.
It's hard to believe, especially if you're one of the many who remembers the days of "Nimrod" and "Warning." But believe it or not, the guys who screamed out "I want to be the minority!" were this month listed as the 4th biggest band of all time by KROQ in LA.
What Makes Green Day the Best Band of All Time?
Green Day got beaten out by Sublime in 3rd place, Nirvana in 2nd place, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1st. Think that sounds fair? And if not, why not? Some people are saying that what puts Green Day in the TRUE number 1 spot is that they're actually using their notoriety to do some important shit. Examples:
- Recording cool songs to raise money for charities.
- Speaking out against injustice and oppression in Darfur and all over the world.
- Helping the folks in New Orleans rebuild their lives, now that the government doesn't care anymore.
- Generally being awesome.
Makes you wonder if Green Day's second chance at being huge rock stars got them thinking about how they actually wanted to use their celebrity power. Would they kill themselves with drug addiction, mania, and excess, like members of Sublime (Brad Nowell), Nirvana (Kurt Cobain), and Red Hot Chili Peppers (Hillel Slovak)? Or would they actually try to change the world?
Cheers to choosing good over evil, guys!!!
The Ozzman Ranketh
Actually, KROQ wasn't the only rock n' roll legend to name Green Day the best of the best this month. In a recent interview, Ozzy Osbourne named Green Day as one of his top five hard rock bands. Of course, he also lists Black Sabbath in his top 5, but hey, props from Ozzy is props from Ozzy, it don't matter if he's crazy!
Ozzy also said in ther interview that American Idiot was his album of the year last year - now that's praise you can take to the fuckin' bank!
I Campaigned to Save Darfur and All I got was this Crummy T-shirt
The most recent cool thing Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre have been up to is designing a Signature Series, limited edition t-shirt for HardRock.com, which is donating a portion of the proceeds to The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
Wait a second, just a portion? It makes you wonder how big a portion these Hard Rock guys are talking about. If they had said something like "the majority of the proceeds will go to the Campaign," that would have been one thing, but a portion? That could be, like, 1%, or something lame like that! You can't trust these big corporations. I sure hope the guys knew what they were getting into on this deal.
Every Working Class Hero Needs a Costume
The t-shirt - to hammer a point home - was actually designed by the Green Day guys. It has a big image of Billie Joe on the front, along with the words "Working Class Hero." On the back you get signatures of Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre - printed not actually autographed!
The shirts are reasonably cool, the sigs on the back most likely the best part. You can buy one here: Click here for $24.00, but you might want to include a note in your purchasing information asking just how much of the money is actually going to the Campaign to Save Darfur.
Rant About Corporations Controlling Charities
Funny, as I remember it, it didn't seem like Green Day donated only a "portion of the proceeds" when they recorded "Working Class Hero," or "The Saints are Coming." Not to beat a dead horse, but it really sucks how "good causes" seem to inevitably become an opportunity for a whole bunch of corporate interests that are already rich as hell to get richer. It's totally corrupt, but there's nothing you can do about it because what's the alternative? To not help people at all? To not even try? This is the kind of shit Billie Joe is criticizing in "Holiday" when he says "Hear the drum pounding out of time, / Another protester has crossed the line, / To find the money's on the other side." Fuck! The world is so full of corruption and despair, and all we've got to fight it is music. Instead of designing t-shirts, it's about time Green Day puts out another album and brings us some serious truth!!!
Instant Karma Released on June 12th
If this is the kind of shit that stresses you out, you at least don't have to worry about it when it comes to picking up the new Instant Karma album, which came out on June 12th. Amnesty International is well known for being very grassrootsy and not-fucking-around-ish. They actually help people, which is probably the reason why they're so broke most of the time, so pick up the bloody CD!
Most Hilarious Green Day Flub of the Month
In the June issue of Rolling Stone, some crazy bastard reported that Green Day was not only recording the Simpsons theme song for the upcoming soundtrack album, but was actually adding lyrics to it. This news caused many fans of the band and the show to vomit into their morning cereal. How, we thought, could Green Day, who are cool, and the Simpsons people, who are also very cool, put their heads together and come up with something as lame as that?
Luckily, they didn't! The folks at Green Day sent out a correction confirming that NO lyrics have been written. Hopefully this is not one of those rumors that turns out to be true.
Keep the Voice with the Minority
And so, two years from that crazy weekend at Milton Keynes, our boys, who only WE loved in the days of "Minority," are now performing on American Idol, designing clothes, fighting injustice worldwide, and recording the theme song for the most popular show in TV history.
Through it all, can they hang on to the blunt, fuck-you style that made us love them in the first place? We'll have to wait for the next album to find out, but with all the other stuff heaped onto the Green Day plate as of late, we might be waiting a long-ass time.
Hopefully, as they record their new album, they'll remember these lyrics, which don't come from one of their more popular albums, but do say it all about the greatness of Green Day:
"I want to be the minority,
I don't need your authority,
Down with the moral majority,
'Cause I want to be the minority!"
That's enough for this month.
Peace out.
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